Redemptorist Father Ramon “Ray” Dompke, 85, died Jan. 7 in the rectory of St. Michael Parish in Old Town.

Born in Chicago, he was baptized at St. Michael and attended elementary school there before going to St. Joseph’s Preparatory Seminary in Kirkwood, Missouri, and entering the Redemptorist novitiate at Mount St. Clement in DeSoto, Missouri. He professed temporary vows in 1959, perpetual vows in 1962 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1964.

Father Dompke served as associate pastor of parishes in Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan, as well as St. Michael (1982-1993) and St. Alphonsus (Wellington Avenue, 1993, 1995) before being named pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on the West Side (1995-2005).

Father Dompke was named bursar of the Villa Redeemer/North American Novitiate community in Glenview in 2005. He served as rector of the community from 2011 until 2015, when the property was sold.

He returned to the staff at St. Michael’s, where he felt blessed to be near his family, especially his elderly mother, whom he visited every week until she died at the age of 105 in 2019.

In addition to serving the parish community, he volunteered to preach foreign mission appeals throughout the Midwest until his health began to decline.